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– The purpose of this paper is to explore the beliefs held by managers about their roles as facilitators of learning with their employees in a public utilities organisation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the beliefs held by managers about their roles as facilitators of learning with their employees in a public utilities organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was based on Ellinger and Bostrom’s (2002) study on managers’ beliefs on their role as facilitators of learning in learning-orientated firms. Abductive research logic was used in a small sample in depth qualitative study using critical incident interviews.
Findings
Managers in the study conveyed strong self-efficacy and outcome beliefs confirming the central role in workplace learning of line managers who adopt a coaching approach. Key new insights were also found in managers’ beliefs on acting as role models within the organisation and their beliefs on the need to manage skills-related organisational risk.
Research limitations/implications
A key limitation of the research is inherent in the use of critical incident technique, as it provides information on the nature of “atypical events” as opposed to more gradual, tacit and typically ongoing learning at work.
Practical implications
The managers’ belief map derived from the data provides a context-specific “target of change” with which to challenge the wider organisation regarding learning facilitation. The research also shows how industry-specific contexts may provide specific pathways for developing managers in their role as facilitators of learning.
Originality/value
The value of the research is twofold: first, providing further validation of the findings from Ellinger and Bostrom’s (2002) research on managers’ beliefs on the effective facilitation of workplace learning; second, additional insights on managerial beliefs regarding role modelling and succession planning are identified, and the implications for management development are discussed.
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Ruth Belling, Kim James and Donna Ladkin
This paper explores how organisations can become more sophisticated at supporting transfer of learning, by identifying the perceived barriers and facilitators to transfer of…
Abstract
This paper explores how organisations can become more sophisticated at supporting transfer of learning, by identifying the perceived barriers and facilitators to transfer of learning, by examining a range of individual characteristics and workplace features associated with these barriers and facilitators and then relating these to the type of programme that managers undertake. The longitudinal survey methodology and programme typology used in the research are described. Findings highlight 26 perceived barriers and 17 facilitators to the transfer of learning, significant associations are shown with particular features such as mentoring and personal values. The paper goes on to identify the characteristics associated with a lack of transfer and suggests a tentative model of perceived influences on transfer of learning. Based on this research, it is concluded that it is important to take programme learning design into account when considering support for transfer of learning from management development programmes back to the workplace.
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To present an account of changes in the behaviour of male bank managers who were engaged in action learning groups whose focus was on improving service quality and leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
To present an account of changes in the behaviour of male bank managers who were engaged in action learning groups whose focus was on improving service quality and leadership development.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative study of the development of group process, and the changes in behaviours of the managers whose values and norms were dominated by discourses of traditional hegemonic masculinity. It is also an autobiographical account of the authors' experience of facilitating action learning groups.
Findings
Analysis of the groups' processes revealed a connection between the development of the groups in relation to authority and the changes in the managers' behaviour over a period of 12 months during which they began to behave in ways typically characterised as feminine.
Practical implications
Has implications for management development especially the development of male managers and their capacity to work in more feminine ways. Significant factors in developing men's management and leadership capabilities are peer learning, and engagement with authority in ways that are not dissimilar to the experiences of the adolescent and young adult in relation to peers and parents. There are also implications for facilitators and trainers engaged in management development processes.
Originality/value
Offers a theoretical contribution to the concept of the “Authority Cycle”, and theories on masculinity. It is also useful for management development practitioners.
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Andrea D. Ellinger and Robert P. Bostrom
Limited published research has examined the role of leaders and managers in building learning capability and learning organizations. It is speculated that leaders and managers…
Abstract
Limited published research has examined the role of leaders and managers in building learning capability and learning organizations. It is speculated that leaders and managers will assume roles such as facilitators of learning, coaches, and teachers. However, these roles and the micro‐behaviors manifested in them remain an area that has not been fully explored. This article reports specific findings from a qualitative critical incident study that was designed to investigate the multiple ways exemplary managers facilitate their employees’ learning in organizations considered to be learning organizations. Thirteen behavior sets emerged from this research that help to define the role of facilitator of learning. Implications for management development are discussed and areas for future research are identified.
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Elizabeth Hicks, Robert Bagg, Wendy Doyle and Jeffrey D. Young
This paper seeks to examine workplace learning strategies, learning facilitators and learning barriers of public accountants in Canada across three professional levels – trainees…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to examine workplace learning strategies, learning facilitators and learning barriers of public accountants in Canada across three professional levels – trainees, managers, and partners.
Design/methodology/approach
Volunteer participants from public accounting firms in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick completed a demographic survey, a learning activities survey, a learning barriers survey, and a learning facilitators survey. Quantitative analysis provided total scores for key variables and compared these across the three levels.
Findings
The paper finds that accountants across different levels use a variety of formal and informal learning strategies, although informal strategies predominate. Accountants encounter numerous facilitators and barriers. There are variations in strategies, barriers and facilitators based on professional level; for example, trainees make more use of e‐learning than do either managers or partners.
Research limitations/implications
Future research could focus on the efficacy of accountants' formal and informal learning strategies as well as how e‐learning can be appropriately managed and utilized.
Practical implications
Allocation of work and relationships with people are important to the learning process and should be considered in work assignments. One implication is to encourage informal learning and provide appropriate learning activities and feedback so that informal learning is maximized. There could also be more emphasis placed on assisting partners and managers in developing their roles as coaches and mentors.
Originality/value
The paper provides information on workplace learning for an understudied group of professionals in a Canadian context.
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Using a case study analysis of one undergraduate program that focuses on training science majors to perform sustainability outreach in their communities, this study offers…
Abstract
Using a case study analysis of one undergraduate program that focuses on training science majors to perform sustainability outreach in their communities, this study offers pedagogical suggestions for how educators in universities might incorporate sustainability and activism into their curricular design.
This chapter discusses the relationship between the hard academic knowledge of the classroom and the outreach work done by the students by examining how curricular design and classroom activities lead to outreach work. Drawing on interviews, curriculum materials, and observations of staff meetings, this chapter examines how the course teachers use a peer-learning model to collaboratively develop the pedagogy of the classroom.
This model of teacher training through engagement with the content material of the course represents reflective learning practices. By being asked to break down and contextualize class themes and units for themselves as thinkers, the teachers first reflect on their own learning process and disciplinary participation as a way of developing course material for their students, who are themselves not incredibly far behind their facilitators in their own learning development.
The effectiveness of this practice suggests possibilities for using teacher training as a way to model the classroom space that each discipline believes best serve their learning goals. By first reflecting on their own individual relationship to the subject material, the teachers engage in a re-negotiation with knowledge that is synonymous with effective learning. The knowledge of the discipline is constantly re-negotiated around why that knowledge matters for each individual member of the discipline.
By considering how the classroom in this program combines disciplinary knowledge of environmental science with outreach and activist-oriented praxis, this case study analysis allows for pedagogical techniques that instructors might use with similar goals of combining traditional academic discourse with public outreach and participation.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe findings of an exploratory study, guided by the question: “What are the effects of managers on salient elements of work environments that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe findings of an exploratory study, guided by the question: “What are the effects of managers on salient elements of work environments that have the potential to influence informal workplace learning?”.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with owner‐managers, managers, and employees in ten small manufacturing firms. Verbatim expressions of the interview participants were analysed using content analytic procedures.
Findings
The ways managers intentionally promote learning were unveiled, including: providing access to a range of workplace activities; promoting communication in the workplace; facilitating access to direct guidance from workplace models; and designating learning facilitators. Informal employee practices used by managers seem to have unintended positive “side effects” on informal workplace learning.
Research limitations/implications
Several questions are in need of further investigation. What are the effects on employees' learning of informal human resource management practices?; What are the effects on newcomers' learning of pre‐employment socialisation agents?; and What are the effects on employees' learning of low specialisation?
Practical implications
Managers should examine characteristics of work environments and ensure that these characteristics support informal workplace learning through provision of learning opportunities, support for learning and incentives to learn. Managers may need practical advice and behavioural guidelines to help them strengthen informal workplace learning. They should view fostering learning as a priority action.
Originality/value
The paper contributes knowledge to understanding the ways managers intentionally seek to foster employee learning and how certain management practices that seem to be common in small firms have the potential to affect employees' learning.
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This paper explores the themes and implications, concerning the role of the supervisor as a facilitator of knowledge sharing in teams. After describing the strategic context for…
Abstract
This paper explores the themes and implications, concerning the role of the supervisor as a facilitator of knowledge sharing in teams. After describing the strategic context for devolving human resource responsibilities to line managers, the paper defines and discusses the line manager/supervisor role. The barriers to learning in the workplace are considered. It is suggested that supervisors, through their devolved responsibility for people (which, by implication, includes learning and development) have an influence as facilitators promoting knowledge sharing within their teams. The paper examines whether the supervisor's intervention as a facilitator, could provide the important link leading to the sharing of individual and collective tacit knowledge in teams.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which forum theatre interventions can support non-hierarchical approaches to learning, development and change management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which forum theatre interventions can support non-hierarchical approaches to learning, development and change management initiatives in organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were carried out with theatre consultancies, actors/facilitators, commissioners and participants in two forum theatre events. The data were analysed through thematic coding using template analysis.
Findings
The findings show that the impact of forum theatre interventions was constrained by the need for practitioners to meet the requirements of their organizational clients. There was a lack of clarity by the facilitators about how they can carry out the role effectively and meet the expectations of their own managers, organizational clients and participants. The paper concludes that without explicit acknowledgement of these competing expectations or the facilitators ' beliefs and attitudes, the impact of such interventions may be reduced or diminished.
Research limitations/implications
The study is relatively small-scale and there is a need for research across a wider range of theatre-based interventions to develop understanding of the ways in which such events can enable the development of non-hierarchical learning spaces.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the need for consultancies offering forum theatre interventions to understand the dilemmas of facilitators and provide a more pro-active approach to their learning and development needs.
Originality/value
There has been limited exploration of the facilitator ' s role in managing learning and development events in general and forum theatre in particular. This paper highlights the challenges to consultancies and HRD practitioners in implementing more democratic approaches to learning, development and change management initiatives.
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In this chapter the notion of ‘the third context’ is presented as a useful perspective in order to reduce the gap between work and continuing education, as continuing education is…
Abstract
In this chapter the notion of ‘the third context’ is presented as a useful perspective in order to reduce the gap between work and continuing education, as continuing education is argued to be an activity different from work as well as education, namely as something ‘third’. Consequently, ‘the third context’ is an alternative to the predominant understanding of work and education as two incompatible entities based on different paradigms. The understanding of incompatibility between work and education had extensive influence on learner engagement and learning outcome in two continuing education courses based on Facilitated Work Based Learning (FWBL). FWBL focuses extensively on integrating work and continuing education with the purpose of increasing employee involvement and engagement: Theoretically, FWBL is inspired by John Dewey and Problem Based Learning. Obstacles occurred during the FWBL courses, especially in relation to the question of ‘how can work and continuing education be integrated?’ More extensive use of information technology is argued to be a method supporting the alignment of processes between the FWBL course and the workplace.